They were experiencing temperatures that weren't expected with global warming

semlin · 03-13-07, 05:25 PM

yes, i know it doesn't disprove global warming, but you have to appreciate mother nature's sense of irony here.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070312/...c/polar_trek_1

Frostbite ends Bancroft-Arnesen trek
By PATRICK CONDON, Associated Press Writer
Mon Mar 12, 5:28 PM ET

MINNEAPOLIS - A North Pole expedition meant to bring attention to global warming was called off after one of the explorers got frostbite. The explorers, Ann Bancroft and Liv Arnesen, on Saturday called off what was intended to be a 530-mile trek across the Arctic Ocean after Arnesen suffered frostbite in three of her toes, and extreme cold temperatures drained the batteries in some of their electronic equipment.

"Ann said losing toes and going forward at all costs was never part of the journey," said Ann Atwood, who helped organize the expedition.

On Monday, the pair was at Canada's Ward Hunt Island, awaiting a plane to take them to Resolute, Canada, where they were to return to Minneapolis later this week.

Bancroft, 51, became the first woman to cross the North Pole on a 1986 expedition. She and Arnesen, 53, of Oslo, Norway, were the first women to ski across Antarctica in 2001.

But the latest trek got off to a bad start. The day they set off from Ward Hunt Island, a plane landing near the women hit their gear, punching a hole in Bancroft's sled and damaging one of Arnesen's snowshoes.

They repaired the snowshoe with binding from a ski, but Atwood said the patch job created pressure on Arnesen's left foot, which led to blisters that then turned into frostbite.

Then there was the cold — quite a bit colder, Atwood said, then Bancroft and Arnesen had expected. One night they measured the temperature inside their tent at 58 degrees below zero, and outside temperatures were exceeding 100 below zero at times, Atwood said.

"My first reaction when they called to say there were calling it off was that they just sounded really, really cold," Atwood said.

She said Bancroft and Arnesen were applying hot water bottles to Arnesen's foot every night, but had to wake up periodically because the bottles froze.

The explorers had planned to call in regular updates to school groups by satellite phone, and had planned online posts with photographic evidence of global warming. In contrast to Bancroft's 1986 trek across the Arctic with fellow Minnesota explorer Will Steger, this time she and Arnesen were prepared to don body suits and swim through areas where polar ice has melted.

Atwood said there was some irony that a trip to call attention to global warming was scuttled in part by extreme cold temperatures.

"They were experiencing temperatures that weren't expected with global warming," Atwood said. "But one of the things we see with global warming is unpredictability."

IDave · 03-13-07, 08:02 PM

Ironic, indeed. Tough break for the ladies (literally and figuratively).

wob · 03-13-07, 08:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by semlin

"But one of the things we see with global warming is unpredictability."

There is your cop out answer.

stinkyfj60 · 03-13-07, 08:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wob

There is your cop out answer.

x a billion.

IDave · 03-13-07, 08:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wob

There is your cop out answer.

That's fer sure. "We've got a model that predicts unpredicatability." Can't lose with that one.

LukeO · 03-13-07, 08:52 PM

Yeah, but.

If 1998 was the globe's warmest year on record, this means it's about time to hit the first "MAN MADE ICE AGE"?

Ya'll ready to adapt?

Ooops....I meant "evolve".......again?????

We're discussing the wrong issue............

IDave · 03-13-07, 09:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LukeO

Yeah, but.

If 1998 was the globe's warmest year on record, this means it's about time to hit the first "MAN MADE ICE AGE"?

Ya'll ready to adapt?

Ooops....I meant "evolve".......again?????

We're discussing the wrong issue............

I'm moving to Canada.

IDave · 03-13-07, 09:02 PM

....after we take over, of course....

Brian in Oregon · 03-13-07, 09:05 PM

Regardless of which side of the global warming debate you're on, this is both tragic and ironic at the same time.

semlin · 03-13-07, 09:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IDave

I'm moving to Canada.

Quote:

Originally Posted by IDave

....after we take over, of course....

old farts are taking over canada? i'll get the geritol.

IDave · 03-13-07, 10:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by semlin

old farts are taking over canada? i'll get the geritol.

You're flinging geritol, now?

wob · 03-13-07, 10:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian in Oregon

Regardless of which side of the global warming debate you're on, this is both tragic and ironic at the same time.

...but mostly funny.

IdahoDoug · 03-13-07, 10:14 PM

Getting a kick out of the sponsored linky to this "it's too cold to go on" global warming thread being "Nature Canada" and a Global Warming Petition. If I put Global Warming in my post again, it may still be there for you guys to see. Global Warming Global Warming Global Warming Global Warming

DougM

Relix · 03-14-07, 01:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian in Oregon

Regardless of which side of the global warming debate you're on, this is both tragic and ironic at the same time.

agreed

reffug · 03-14-07, 03:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IDave

You're flinging geritol, now?

we kinda fling whatever is handy...................

OZCAL · 03-14-07, 04:39 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brian in Oregon

Regardless of which side of the global warming debate you're on, this is both tragic and ironic at the same time.

But see, the ancient Greeks were dealing with tragedy and irony in their theatre thousands of years ago, which further confirms that global warming is nothing new.

LukeO · 03-14-07, 04:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OZCAL

But see, the ancient Greeks were dealing with tragedy and irony in their theatre thousands of years ago, which further confirms that global warming is nothing new.

I bet the Ancient Greeks had to deal with crooked politicians too.

My how things stay the same.

semlin · 03-14-07, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by IDave

You're flinging geritol, now?

we're saving the ben gay for interrogations

Mark W · 03-14-07, 11:53 AM

I'm sorry, I see the irony here, but don't see any tragedy.

If someone climbs Everest for the heck of it and winds up loosing a toe or two due to frostbite, no one really considers that a tragedy. It's just one of those things.

If a politically driven activist makes a poor choice in her preparations during a publicity stunt, what now makes that a tragedy?

Algore can give her a call and tell her she's a good little global warming soldier who has sacrificed for the cause.

Mark...

bkg · 03-14-07, 01:35 PM

So that's 2 major global warming summits canceled due to cold/snow... and one arctic expedition. All in about 2 months.

I guess that's irony.

And the ad's on this page are funny - "let's stop global warming. Their (polar bears with sad faces) habitat is melting." But yet they are at their highest numbers in decades. LOL...